A Few Long Years
by To the Redwoods
Summary: Before New York, there was Northern California and a girl who saw some light in his darkened heart.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I wrote a thing. Its a thing in which I ignore canon and pretend that Loki was banished to earth. All will be explained my chicken nuggets. I apologize for my story but I thought it was a good idea at the time.. Sorry sorry sorry.._

* * *

_The first Winter..._

It was going to be a cold winter. It was hardly October and a soft blanket of snow already dusted the trees and the forest floor surrounding a lone cabin with smoke billowing from the brick chimney. To be truthful though, Hazel loved the snow. She wouldn't have moved to extreme northern California if she didn't. It seemed to be coating the redwoods sooner and sooner every year, which wasn't a problem but it did mean more shoveling.

Hazel stood at a tall window of her small cabin looking out to the trees. She watched the powdery snow fall to the ground. The petite brunette lived by herself on a small plot of a land near a lake at the edge of a small town. She liked the peace of being alone. She liked the way she could hear the wind whistling though the trees on cold nights and the way snow fell undisturbed to the street during the day.

She breathed deep the steam coming from the cup of blueberry tea wrapped in her pale fingers. She didn't do much in the winter. In the spring, summer and fall she ran a nursery, a vegetable stand and a pumpkin patch. Nothing grew in the frost and snow of the winter time though. She read a lot when it was cold. Her house was like an antique gallery. Books lined the walls and a record player sat where there should be a TV. Candles filled empty spaces on shelves. She was one of the only people in her small town that owned a tiny rabbit eared television in the kitchen and almost everything else was antique. Other than reading though, winter was boring.

As Hazel sighed again, a bright flash lit the light sky. It illuminated the trees with a white light and a noise that sounded like thunder shook her windows. She jumped and her tea cut hit the rug with a loud crack. Her wide mossy colored eyes scanned the shadowy forest.

"What in the world was that." She muttered to herself. She pulled on a pair of boots over her thick wool socks and grabbed a coat from the rack by her door. She scrambled out the door after grabbing the flashlight from her counter. She clicked on the light and scanned the trees.

The chill of the night air closed in around her and her breath appeared and then disappeared into the dark. There were no clouds in the sky so what she heard wasn't thunder. The night was still. The sound of a voice yelling into the night echoed from the trees and she stumbled down the stairs into the snow. The white powder crunched under her boots as she made her way towards the grey trees.

"Is someone there?" Her voice shook with the cold.

Something blue flashed from the shadows in the trees and she jumped. The flashlight shook in her quickly numbing fingers. The crack of shattering bark echoed out from the trees and she was suddenly not only shaking from the cold.

"Who's out there?"

One last shout and flash of dim blue light leaked from between the long grey shadows of the thick forest and the night grew incredibly silent.

"Seriously, if you're here to kill me I'll call the police!" She threatened before patting down her pockets and realizing she had left her phone on her kitchen counter. "Shit.."

In another flash a shadow began to make its way from the trees. A tall pale man appeared under the beam of her flashlight. Emerald eyes peered at her curiously from under a raised eyebrow.

"Stay away from me!" Hazel scrambled back towards her cabin. She threw her flashlight at the strange man without hesitating.

"Please stop yelling." He was suddenly in front of her with a soft hand around her wrist. "I have a headache."

She tried to pry her arm from his grip and leaned away from him. "Let go of me!"

"If you insist." He smiled mischievously and let her fall back into the snow.

She hit the ice and frantically backed up. "Who are you and where did you come from?"

His smirk turned into a grin. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Where did you come from?"

Hazel stilled and tried to stand on her quickly freezing legs. "I'm not the one crash landing in people's backyards. Besides, I asked you first."

The pale man's smile softened and he tilted his chin up at her. His emerald eyes turned to the sky. The silvery starlight lit his delicate features. Hazel saw the ghosts of tear tracks trailing over his high cheekbones.

"Have you been crying?" She held her elbows, trying to keep the cold away from her skin.

"Do you always ask so many questions?" He countered easily.

"Did you.. Um.. Did you want to come inside? I could, I don't know make you some tea or something?" Her voice shook wildly from the cold.

He laughed humorlessly. "And if I'm here to kill you?"

"Something tells me you're not." She said quietly. "You don't have to come."

The pale man was quiet for a moment then conceded with a nod. "I will join you then."

After a short hesitation, they made their way to her quiet cabin. He sat at the table after she held out her hand for him to take the chair farthest from the door. He watched her with shining eyes as she filled the kettle with water. She crossed her arms across her chest.

"So.. You never answered my question." Hazel leaned back against the counter.

He set his hands on the table. "What would you like to know?"

"Where did you come from? Are you like an alien?"

He laughed quietly. "An alien? Ah, yes I suppose you could say that." He looked down at his hands as the kettle began to whistle.

Hazel poured the hot water into a pair of mugs as the smell of blueberry filled the room. She brought the pair of mugs across the room and sat beside him. His long delicate fingers wrapped around the steaming mug. He sighed deeply.

"I got in an argument with my brother and so I ran somewhere where he couldn't follow. I didn't know there would be a little mouse spying on me."

"My name's Hazel." She scowled but kept her eyes stubbornly on his. "So that light? It was you?"

"Like I said, I hadn't thought that someone might be watching." He gave her a tight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Also it's very nice to meet you Hazel. I didn't mean to drop in on your quiet evening."

"Well you did literally drop in out of the sky and take out your frustration on one of my poor trees." She sipped at her tea. "And you haven't even introduced yourself properly, Mr. Martian."

The pale man's eyes slipped shut. "How rude of me." He said almost sarcastically and set a hand over his heart. "You may call me Loki. I am a Prince of the realm of Asgard, god of Mischief and son of Odin the All Father. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"You're a Prince?"

Loki nodded and his bright eyes opened.

"Was I.. Have I been rude?" She stuttered nervously. Hazel practically knocked her mug over as she clumsily leaned forward and bit her lip. "Your highness?"

Loki waved his hand dismissively. "Please don't. You've been wonderful."

Hazel felt her cheeks warm up suddenly. "Well you're welcome then."

The dark haired prince leaned back in the chair, setting the now empty cup down on Hazel's worn table. He scrubbed his hands over his face. "I should return to Asgard. My brother will beat himself up if he can't apologize."

"Oh. Yeah you should let him then." She tapped her fingernails against the coffee mug on the table top. "Will I ever see you again?" She asked nervously.

Loki stood with a smile. "If that is what you wish, the very next time I am feeling frustrated I will return here to you." He bowed deeply.

Hazel stood and smiled back. "Okay! I mean yes! Yes! Um I mean I would like that very much."

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Thank you Lady Hazel for inviting me to tea."

She curtsied. "Your highness."

With that he was gone in a whirlwind of glittering magic. Hazel stood stunned with her flashlight suddenly in her hands. No one would believe this. A magic prince from space dropped out of the sky and into her life.

* * *

Two months passed and the snow grew thicker and thicker in the trees. It weighed on the branches and bogged them down. December set in in full and Hazel had already read almost all of her books. She had also been ignoring shoveling snow until an early morning when she wrapped herself in bundles and bundles and stumbled out of the house dragging her snow shovel behind her.

It was an incredibly cold morning. He hands were frozen even under her thick gloves and she could practically feel her skin turning blue under the thermal onesie she had slipped on beneath her clothes. Her breath puffed out through her scarf into the morning air as she struggled to hold the shovel in her knit covered hands.

Hazel hit a patch of ice and her boots slipped. "Shit.." She managed as she fell backwards.

"Not doing a very good job shoveling are you." A soft voice said in her ear as a pair of hands caught her back.

Hazel screamed and slipped down to the cement anyway. She landed on a pair of boots and looked up at the man who had suddenly appeared in the snow behind her. "Loki." She breathed. "You scared the shit out of me."

"You do have a dirty mouth when you are scared don't you." He winked. "Could I offer my assistance?" He held out on of his pale hands.

"How are you not freezing your highness." She muttered as he pulled her to feet with a mischievous smirk.

"The cold doesn't really bother me. Shall we go inside? I can't even see you under all of those layers." His bright eyes searched the spaces of her face that weren't covered in a scarf or a hat.

"Fine. But only if you make me tea?" She smiled and together they made their way into her small cabin.

Hazel instructed the mysterious Prince how to work the stove, and the tap water and where her tea pot was as she ran into her bedroom to strip off a few layers. She made it down to the thermal onesie before she sighed and slipped on a pair of slippers. "Well how did the stove go?"

Instead of the kitchen though, she found Loki inspecting a half decorated Christmas tree in the living room.

"This is confusing. You haven't finished have you?" He tapped one of the shiny red orbs hanging from the branches. He eyed her thermals critically. "Is that normal?"

"Well no I haven't. Unfortunately being able to walk down my sidewalk took precedence." Hazel leaned up against the wall. "And yes it is when it's cold." She pouted angrily. "Tea?"

"On the table." He nodded into the kitchen as he turned back to the tree. "Curious. I haven't ever seen one before." The pale prince held out his hand in order to balance one of the shining ornaments on the tips of his fingers, before it shimmered into the air. It disappeared and then reappeared in his other hand. He smiled softly as she reappeared in the doorway with two tea cups.

"You're incredible." She whispered as he caught the ornament and hung it carefully on the tree.

"No I wouldn't say quite that much." He smirked and took one of the tea cups from her.

"You said you would come next time something had you feeling down. Did you want to talk about it?" She sank into her overstuffed couch.

Loki sighed. "You are so young."

"I'm 24. You can't be much older than that Your Highness. You don't look a day over 25." She sat on the couch and curled around the steaming cup.

He hesitated before taking the seat beside her. "I have watched centuries pass and hardly noticed. Time is very different where I am from." Loki watched her carefully. "You don't seem very surprised."

Hazel narrowed her gaze at him. "You are a Prince from space who was just performing magic in my living room and you want me to be surprised about your age?"

"Point taken." He paused for a long time before taking a breath. "Do you remember that I told you before that my Father has always favored my brother over myself?"

Hazel nodded and leaned closer to him.

"I believe my father has been lying to me for a very long time. Only I don't exactly know what to ground my theories in. I feel as though I'm going mad." He picked absent mindedly at the side of his palm. "Something bad is welling up inside my heart and I fear I don't have the strength to stop it."

"Let me help." Hazel's voice surprised even her. He looked up suddenly.

"What should I do?" He whispered. "My father isn't someone I can go to. He has always favored Thor for the throne, even though we grew up together and he told us countless times that we were both born to rule." He paused and looked back and his hands. "I don't want it, anyway. I never wanted it. I only want to be seen as an equal."

"If it's any consolation I think that you're amazing."

"It is thank you. Not many people pay me compliments you know. Other than my mother, who loves me unconditionally. But I am not as strong as my brother and people tend to gravitate towards the sun, the Mighty Thor. Not the moon." He paused to gauge her reaction.

"Well." She leaned back and crossed her arms. Her tea cup was empty and she pushed it back on the coffee table with her painted toes. "I've always liked the moon better. It's quiet and the light is comforting. The sun is too harsh and if you get to close it'll burn you. The moon is soft and kind. Not to mention shy. It only shows its light to a few in the dark and disappears every once in a while to be alone. It would never do anything to hurt you. It's too beautiful…." She trailed off with a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry." Her gaze met Loki's who was watching her carefully.

"I should go." He whispered.

"I'm sorry. Please don't."

"No I am feeling much better. What you said, it was unabashedly kind Hazel." He stood and bowed to her. "I will return. That is a promise. Though, I don't know what terms it will be under. My brother's coronation grows near."

Hazel stood and set a hand on his arm. "Loki." She started then bit at her lip. "Um.. You're welcome here whenever you find time."

He smiled tiredly. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Thank you." He muttered against her skin. "I will be back."

Loki disappeared again, leaving her alone in the living room. She felt light headed and fell back into the couch. He was widely charming and sweet and smart. She wished that when he found her again he was in better spirits.

* * *

Another two months passed in a flash. Hazel was alone on New Years, somewhere in the back of her mind she had hoped her prince would fly down from the stars but he didn't. Days and then weeks and then months passed and Hazel was alone. She would spend days staring up at the stars and hoping he would come to her but he didn't. It was nearly the end of January. The snow was thick still on the ground, but now more like sleet and less like powder.

She was cleaning up the kitchen in the evening and putting away her dishes. Hazel was humming along to a record that was playing quietly in the other room. The scratchy sounds of big band jazz music made her temporarily forget the Prince from another world as she cleaned up.

"Hazel something terrible is happening." The voice made her scream and hurl a plate across the room. With a wave of his hand the plate disappeared and reappeared in Loki's pale hand.

"You scared me." She whispered. The distraught look on his pale face made her relax. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Thor's coronation is tomorrow." He set the plate on the counter. "Something terrible is bubbling up and I can't control it." Loki sat at the table and covered his face with his hands. "I can't stop it Hazel. There is darkness in me."

The brunette hesitated then made her way to where he sat. She knelt in front of him and took his hands from his face, holding them tightly between hers. "What is it that's bothering you Loki. Please tell me."

"He's brash and rude and violent." He spoke quietly. "I never wanted the throne. I never did but I find myself feeling so envious. I can't stop the feelings. They are filling me with anger and hate."

Hazel let out a shaking breath and squeezed his hands tightly. "No, you have never been like that. Stop thinking like that."

"How would you know?" His thin fingers traced the backs of her knuckles. "You have only met me three times now. I could be a murderer and a traitor."

"But you're not."

"How do you know that." He hissed dangerously. "How do you know that I would kill you. I come here and you kneel before me on the floor and you blindly trust that I will not hurt you."

"Loki, you're gentle and kind and.." She trailed off as his bright eyes met hers. "You have never been anything but sweet to me."

He laughed dryly. "No one in Asgard would ever say such things to me. They all gravitate to Thor. You would be ridiculed for your affection." His hands tightened around hers. "Why do you wish to keep me from these dark thoughts."

Her gaze fell to his hands. "Because you're worth it your Highness. I think you are one million times over and I would do anything I could to keep you sane."

"Why?"

Hazel didn't know how to answer his question without pouring her heart out in an embarrassing way. Her heart pounded in her ears and she held onto the prince's hands like he was going to float away. "You're special to me. I think about you constantly. You're the only thing that makes sense to me anymore, isn't that ridiculous? Space royalty, and you make sense. I have nothing else but you. I don't know why you ever disappear at all. You could just stay here with me.. Forever."

He let out a held breath and smiled softly. "I am going to disappoint you Hazel. I have shadows cast all over my heart."

She didn't look up at him. She couldn't bring herself to.

"I don't know what to do."

They sat in silence after that. The breaking prince and the human who saw the light in his eyes. She clung to him like an anchor and him to her.

"If I do something horrible, what will happen then? If the shadows become too much."

"I know they won't." She answered. "You're strong."

"I'm a jealous beast." Loki insisted.

"Maybe, but you're a good man."

They were silent again. The record ended in the living room with a scratch.

"My mother will be looking for me." He muttered after a long time.

Hazel nodded. "Will you come back? Regardless of what happens you come back to me."

He searched her face. "No matter what you will have me?"

"No matter what. You come back to me." She repeated.

Their gazes met and he gave her a small smile. "You are a strange little human. I have never spent time with any others really, to be fair. Strange that you would not be frightened of me." He paused and he's hands moved idly over her fingers. "Strange that you want to save me from myself. Stranger still that you see light in me."

"You're worth it to me."

"I should take my leave. The coronation will call for my assistance and I must be there for Thor. Regardless of where I will end up, for this moment I feel I must be there for my brother." Hazel nodded. She felt his hands on her face and he turned her to look up at his face. A weary smile sat on his lips. "You must smile for me now. We don't know what storm is coming towards us from over the horizon. I never break my promises and I will return for you."

She nodded and tried to return his smile. "You are going to be very bad aren't you."

His expression faltered. "I can't say exactly. I can feel the shadows and the darkness changing me. Please promise you won't think differently of me after all of this."

"I won't if you come back to me."

He smirked, then leaned forward to place a soft kiss on her cheek. "Always."

He was gone after that. She leaned her forehead onto the chair where he had been only seconds before. It was a wonder that he had come back at all, and all she could do was hope that he would come back again. She hoped she hadn't scared him by rambling on about how much she cared about him. But he had promised, and in his own words he had never broken one of those before.

"Please, please, please. Keep him safe and bring him back to me."

A long time passed after that winter.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Here's the next little section. Sorry. Still sorry. Who else got Agent of Asgard. Stoked for the next issue. Woah never got comic books before. _

* * *

_Winter Comes Again.._

Loki had been sentenced to be cast out of Asgard. Exiled to wherever he happened to end up until further notice, which was certain to be a very long time. He supposed he should have seen it coming. And he also supposed, as an after-though, that he should have been grateful. That for his crimes against both humanity and those against the greater nine realms, that he was only being exiled and not tortured and killed for his actions. Though, his magic was definitely being repressed and unusable for all intents and purposed should have gone without saying.

He sat now in silence, waiting in the cell deep in the Asgardian palace, under the tightest security he could ever imagine. He leaned against the back wall, tapping his bare feet against the cool marble floor. A chain clinked between his wrists and he could already feel the effects of Odin's suppression of his magic. He clenched and unclenched his pale hands as they hung off the edges of his knees. He observed the other war criminals in the cells around him with absolute disgust. This was no place for a prince.

Loki rolled his bright eyes as the guards in front of his cell and all the prisoners who peered through the magical cell walls to gawk at the once elegant prince. His hair was a mess, he was sure of it, and deep circles had set in under his eyes from his time under the command of the Chitauri. He had been stripped too of his armor and sat in just his pants and a loose fitting shirt, completely plain and not at all royal in any way. He snorted. How easy it was for them now to look down on the former prince. Once they had respected him, but now he could practically hear their silent ridicule.

However, he wasn't vengeful. He was just tired. Tired and wary of the opportunity he'd been given. If he really was feeling bold he would say even thankful to his brother. Thor had been the one to convince the All Father to only banish him and not send him to the darkest dungeons to be tortured for all eternity. He was originally going to be imprisoned and most likely beaten close to death, he could only assume. The guards of the prison were ruthless and he would no doubt be the target of their abuse for a long time to come. But, for now at least he was relatively safe. Thanks in part to the quick thinking of Thor and he was nothing but grateful.

Loki let out a heavy sigh and let his head fall back against the wall with a soft thud. He was so tired. Tired because of his time under the control of the Teseract, and his unplanned time spent on the throne, and his loss of control over his envy and in the end, himself. He hadn't been entirely in control of his own self for a long time and he was feeling bold, he was truly sorry. He didn't know exactly how to say it and even if his silver tongue could find the words, he wouldn't be able to say them. He thumped his head against the wall a few times before the heavy sound of boots outside of the cell made him stop.

"Leave us." Thor's voice addressed the guards, who hesitated then disappeared down the hall of cells. "Brother, are you alright." His voice was soft and suddenly incredibly concerned.

Loki opened his eyes slowly. "Yes I am fine." Thor looked distraught. He looked torn and his eyes were narrowed in the direction the guards had gone. Loki let out another long sigh. "I believe I owe you-"

"You owe me nothing." The blond sat in front of the magic glass with his long legs folded up carefully and he picked at his pants almost self conciously. "I just want you back from all of this madness brother. That is all."

Loki's bright eyes searched his older brother's face carefully. "Me too." He admitted quietly. "So I thank you."

Thor smiled. His face was always so full of sunshine. "Just know that when you come back I will be the one to punish you for your crimes in a sparring match."

Loki managed a sad smile. He could already feel anger bubbling in his chest and he struggled to keep it suppressed. He was unhappy, infinitely unhappy, more unhappy then he had ever been. He wanted to scream and destroy all the furniture in the sparsely furnished cell, but he couldn't. His magic was bound as tightly as his hands and he wanted nothing less than to appear ungrateful in front of his brother who had stuck his neck out to allow him this opportunity. So Loki sat completely still and watched Thor carefully. He picked at his fingernails inently and tried to think about something other than the fact that he would be thrown into the stars without his magic soon.

"I've convinced father to send you to Midgard." Thor finally said. "You will be safe there."

Loki looked up from his fingernails. "You did what?" His blood had run cold. "Are you daft? I tried to.." He trailed off. "You can't seriously think that a good idea brother."

"I do because Heimdal told me you used to flee to Midgard long before all of this to a very specific place to let yourself relax." Thor probed at Loki with his pale blue eyes and a slightly teasing smile. "That there was a human there, a girl. He said you tried to shield yourself with magic but every once in a while it would slide and he could see you there and you seemed happy."

Loki clenched his jaw. It was true, but certainly the girl had seen what he'd done in New York and would want nothing to do with him now. It had been a long time, easily two years since he had gone to the small town in California to see the girl with the dark hair who had found him in the snow screaming and punching at trees in the forest. She had taken him in and shown him kindness over and over again when he was feeling most like an outcast. No he was positive she would want nothing to do with him now. Not now that he was truly a monster.

"-Are you listening to me?" Thor's voice made him focus.

"Yes." He answered with a clipped tone.

"I was saying I've spoken with Heimdal. He can have you send near there. That is all."

Loki raised a black eyebrow. "Why brother. Why are you showing me this kindness."

Thor laughed. He stood up and straightened his pants. "You deserve a second chance. There was something inside you in New York that wasn't my brother. I know that you are good and I know that man is inside you somewhere yet Loki. You will be safe on Midgard so long as you behave yourself and you will return from this madness that over took you."

"And if I don't?" The smallness of his own voice startled Loki and he looked back at his thin fingers.

Thor didn't answer right away. He searched the face of the brother he loved. He knew that he was in there, somewhere. And he wanted to give that man the chance to come back before punishing the man who had attacked New York. "Do not lose hope Loki. I believe you will come home."

In a sweep of bright red, Thor was gone and Loki was left in complete silence. He was at a loss. So he would go to Earth, hope that no one who had some sort of grudge for what had happened in New York found him, and then what. He would return, the fallen Prince of Asgard, the once failed King of Asgard, the Frost Giant parading as a Prince behind a thin veil of magic, as the once puppet of the Chitauri and war criminal. He had nothing left and Thor was pretending that anyone in the palace still wanted him at all. That despite everything the people of Asgard would welcome him back. Thor was an optimistic fool.

Finally the uncomfortable bubbling in his chest turned, and Loki screamed. Despite the suppression his powerful magic leaked out in a wave and threw the furniture against the magical walls of his cell. He forced himself to his feet and destroyed anything and everything in the cell that he could grab and throw. His magic became more and more difficult to use and finally he collapsed in a shaking heap against the wall where he had started. He breathed heavily as he surveyed the damage in the cell with disgust. His hands were bleeding but he ignored it and hung his head, exhausted.

It was hours before the guards came back. They hauled Loki to his feet and dragged him from his cell, but not before knocking him around until his face bled and added to the red already leaking from his hands, feet and arms. If he were feeling more himself his silver tongue could have thought of a clever insult but there was nothing to say. They jerked him through the halls until they stood in front of Heimdal, Thor and Odin at the Bifrost.

"Loki." His father greeted with a formal nod, examining both his self-inflicted wounds and those the guards had added onto his pale face. "I see you finally let that frustration out."

Loki barely managed a small eye roll, but kept silent and kept his eyes on the ground.

"Well then if that's it, Loki, my son, for your crimes you are hereby banished until you learn the value of life and humanity." Odin nodded again to Heimdal. "Consider yourself lucky and do not think this an act of kindness. I will not hesitate to stop you if anything should appear to be strange in your behavior. You cannot block Heimdal's sight and he will be watching you." In a few long strides he was in front of the fallen prince and removed his shackles. "You have always been my son and one day you will be again."

He stole a glance then at his brother, who smiled to him sadly, before being ripped from Asgard and into the Bifrost. He was vaguely aware of how much it hurt to be thrown through space without any magic, to be for all purposes mortal. But he was feeling extremely lost. When he landed in the snow, he couldn't bring himself to move. He thought briefly that maybe his father had broken his promise to Thor. That perhaps he had been sent to Jotenheim to die in the ice like the monster he was. He thought that until through the haze he saw the moon. Earth's moon and he let out a long breath. He was safe for now. But he was improperly clothed and also barefoot and bleeding and he was positive none of those things worked well with cold. It didn't take long for him to start shivering and collapse into the white powder.

* * *

Hazel stood in her window. She did a lot on nights when she was thinking about her mysterious prince from the stars. She had seen the newscasts, and seen the devastation in New York. She had seen the flashes and images of the stranger in her prince's clothes in Germany, but she couldn't see any part of the mild mannered man she had met in the snow almost two years ago.

She shook her head and gazed up at the stars. She would be lying to herself if she wasn't worried something had happened to Loki in New York, but she was lucky she thought as she was really the only one around who had a TV and internet access. If he ever came back she wouldn't have to explain what had happened in New York.

But Hazel didn't have a lot of answers. Honestly, after he had kissed her forehead and disappeared back to the stars, she hadn't seen him until he had appeared in the papers and all over the news after destroying a military base. And she knew that after seeing pictures of the person that had ordered the people in Germany to kneel, that something awful must have happened to her prince.

A flash lit the sky and Hazel jumped. The light she knew only meant one thing and she rushed to put on shoes

"Loki." She muttered as she rushed out the door and into the snow. She struggled to turn a flashlight on to look at the trees. There was no sign of the dark man as she stood carefully scanning the white dusted landscape. "Loki!" Her voice echoed back to her.

There was no answer and only the quiet fall of snowflakes against the leaves and the trees. She squinted into the darkness, but didn't see anything. Hazel took a few steps out into the cold towards the lake at the very edge of her property where they had first met and shined her flashlight into the shadows. Laying in the snow in a heap by the water was a dark figure and Hazel practically dropped her flashlight scrambling to get to his side. His hair was a mess and blood stained the snow around his face.

"Oh god. Loki can you hear me?" She asked as she rolled him onto his back. He dark hair fell into his bruised face and he groaned and cracked his eyes open. "Please.. What's going on. Are you okay?" She breathed. Her fingertips remained, shaking and nervous on his cheek.

"Decidedly not." He looked up at her carefully. "It's been a while, wouldn't you say."

Hazel couldn't laugh. At the sound of the voice she had longed for, for two years she felt tears leak down her face. She fell forwards onto her prince's chest with an embarrassing sob. "Where have you been? I saw you on the news. I didn't want to believe it was you."

He let out a breath and his bright green eyes slipped shut. "Clearly we have much to discuss but for now, I am quite cold."

"What do you mean? I thought you were never.. Are you bleeding?" Hazel sat up slowly, and her gaze caught sight of his hands and the blood on his face came into sharp focus against his pale skin. "Please tell me you're okay."

"I have a great many stories to tell you Hazel." He searched her face for a moment. "Do you think we could have tea? And pretend the last two years never happened."

Hazel gave him a shy smile. After a short struggle to get him to his feet, which were alarmingly bare, she helped him the house. She sat him at the table, after grabbing the thickest blanket from her bed to wrap around his slim shoulders. She hurried to get the warm tea to him. He gratefully wound his now bony fingers around the steaming cup and clutched it to his chest. He looked very very human suddenly and her heart stuttered in her chest. Her Prince, despite everything, had kept his promise.

"Is it really you Loki?" She asked in a small voice.

The man looked up from his tea and managed a small smile. "I believe so."

Hazel shook her head. She dragged the chair from the other side of the table and sat in front of him so their knees could bump together. The physical contact was comforting somehow. "What has the world done to you?"

Loki sighed. "That is a very long story."

"We have as long as you're willing to stay here."

"I wasn't myself. And, some bad things happened-"

"You destroyed most of New York."

"I didn't.. I.." The man trailed off. "My envy got the better of me I'm afraid."

"Your envy got the better of you? Loki you killed people! What happened to my gentle moonlight Prince-"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that." He hissed dangerously. "You can't even begin to fathom what I have been through. Two years have passed for you, centuries of time have past for me in the void. Years and years of torment and you have been here pining after me. You've seen what I'm capable of. I was a King!" He stood in a rush and shoved the table over in a rage and dropped his mug to the ground. His eyes were burning as he glared down at her.

Hazel blinked up at him and let out a shaking breath. "I'm sorry I didn't know.."

He looked down at the mess of shattered nick-knacks on the floor that had been sitting on the table. He blinked a few times and his now dull eyes slipped shut. "No I am so sorry. I will clean this up. I don't know what came over me."

"Something was different in you when you were in New York.. When you destroyed that base and hurt all those people. You were envious before Loki but you were never like that, never violent. What happened to you?"

The Prince had knelt to the floor and began to scoop shards of the broken mug into his pale hands. "There was an attack. More or less. And Thor lead our friends into Johtenheim, a horrible snow wasteland we were told of when we were children full of terrible foul monsters. One of them grabbed me, and revealed to me a terrible truth. That my father had taken me from their king, I suppose now my true father, when I was just a baby and I was raised to be some sort of bargaining chip. After some.. Altercations, I fell into the void. I was lost to Asgard, they thought me dead." He continued to clean up the floor. "The Chitauri, a brutal alien race, found me and tortured me for what must have been centuries. I lost sight of myself and they sent me to Midgard, here, to do their bidding. They threatened me with violence but I relished the power. After I was defeated by your Avengers, my father imprisoned me. My brother argued for me to be sent here.. To you. And here we are." He ended without looking up at her.

There was a long silence before Hazel dropped to her knees beside him to help him pick up the floor. "Are you human then? If you're here?"

"For all intents and purposes yes, entirely mortal." He still didn't look up to her.

"You were tortured." She searched his bruised face carefully.

He didn't answer except with a slight nod.

"They manipulated you to hurt the people in New York?"

Finally his eyes rose to her. "I would rather not talk about this anymore, if it's all the same to you. I promised I would return to you, and you would have me no matter what. I don't want you to think less of me then I fear you already do. If you don't mind.."

Hazel nodded. "I will still have you. No matter what. When you're ready to talk if you think it'll help you I'll listen." She spoke but kept her eyes on the floor, picking at the scattered shards of her salt and pepper shakers. A silent moment passed before Loki started coughing. She looked up quickly and realized how sick he looked for the first time since they had come inside. "How long were you in the snow?" She asked urgently.

"I don't feel too well.." Was all he muttered before collapsing into a clammy heap on the linoleum.

She jumped to his side, touching his forehead lightly. "Oh god no.. Let me get you to bed. You're burning up. Are you hurting anywhere? Please be alright."

After a short struggle, she half carried him down the hall into her small bedroom. She helped him into her bed and rushed into the bathroom to get medicine for his rapidly spiking fever. If she had Nyquil or something she thought he would be fine at least until the morning but she hardly ever got sick so she had hardly had any medicine. A knock on the door interrupted her frantic searching. With a bottle of the horrible green liquid in hand she rushed to her door and peeked through the peephole, leaving a very pale and confused looking Loki trying to get comfortable in bed. A less than pleased looking man was standing on the other side of the wood, looking around warily with his one visible eye. Hazel's hand tightened around the Nyquil as she chewed nervously on her lip.

"I know you're on the other side of this door. Who you are is another matter entirely. Open the door so we don't have to bust it down." The man knocked one more time on the wood and added, "I am not a patient man"

Hazel hesitated then ran back to her bedroom, her socks padding against her hardwood floor. "Loki someone is here and he looks angry." She knelt at his side and he struggled to focus on her face. She set a cool hand on his burning cheek. "Drink a cup full of this, terrible but it will help you feel better."

"What will you do?" He managed to say as he took the medicine and eyed it carefully. "Your hand feels heavenly. My skin feels like it's on fire."

She smiled and set her other hand on the opposite side of his face. Before he could relax though, there was another angry knock on the door. "I'm going to see what that guy wants. Just stay still and quiet. Drink that and try to relax. Promise me."

"You have my word."

With that she squeezed his hand and rushed back down the hall and to the front door. "One second, let me grab a coat-"

"You better just open up kiddo. You've kept me waiting for long enough." The man set his hands on his hips and eyed the door with disdain.

Hazel hesitated, than opened the door enough to see the man face to face.

"Well, that's not I was expecting. You're… Small." He looked down at her and raised his eyebrow. "May I?" He motioned to come inside.

She opened the door with a few shuffled steps backwards and he strolled in in a swoosh of leather. "Um.. Can I.."

"I don't know can you?" He clasped his hands behind his back and turned on his heels. "Do you know why I'm here Miss Hazel Brown."

She shook her head.

"My name is Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. A mysterious energy source we've been tracking just dropped into your backyard. Now tell me, why are we here." He narrowed his single visible eye at her. When she didn't answer he sighed. "I repeat to you, I am not a patient man. You better believe me when I say I came out personally for this. Now tell me-"

Hazel clasped her hands together nervously. "He has the flu." She blurted out.

"Who does?"

She glanced down at the ground. "He's not going to hurt anyone. Not my Prince." She whispered.

"Stand down." Director Fury muttered into a microphone at his wrist. "Who are you hiding kid."

"You're looking for Loki aren't you?" She looked up at the tall man. "He's very sick. I found him beaten and bleeding in the snow. He's completely human. Please don't take him away from me. Not when I just got him back. He means more to me then you know." Her voice faded to a whisper.

The man eyed her carefully. "Listen to me kid. This is not a joke. He is responsible for the deaths of lots of people, my people. You surrender him now and we won't have to take him in and you for holding him from us. And trust me when I say that will not be a pleasant experience. He will be executed and we'll make you watch-"

"Hazel." Loki's voice made the pair of them turn. "I can't get the cap off of this." He held out the bottle of Nyquil pathetically and leaned against the wall. His dazed eyes fell on Director Fury and he sighed. "I am sorry."

"You are a sight, you know that?" He crossed his arms and turned to the fallen Prince. "Did the whole world domination not work out for you? You have to the count of three to tell me why you're back here before I beat you within an inch of your life and drag you into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters by your hair. You hear me?"

Hazel stepped in front of Loki. "Please just leave him will you?"

"Hazel.." Loki warned in a soft voice.

"Give me one reason why I should."

"He's sick. And he got cast out of his home for a second chance."

"Hazel I can speak on my own behalf." Loki said indignantly, standing up a little straighter on wobbly legs. "She speaks the truth Director Fury. Thor vouched for my need of a second chance. I am certain you could call him-"

"And why would I go through the trouble of doing something like that. You murdered thousands of people in New York." Director Fury squared up and easily met Loki's eyes over Hazel's head. "You deserve death by firing squad Your Royal Highness and then to be hung up by your ankles. I am not joking around."

His eyes fell to the floor before meeting the visible eye of the director without any sort of hesitation. "Then I will accept the consequences for my actions. My brother is a fool for sending me here."

"No. No! I won't let you take him. He was good and kind once, when he came to me before all of this." Hazel clenched her hands into fists. "You'll have to get through me to take him away."

"Hold your tongue." The fallen prince demanded softly. He set a feather light hand on the side of her neck. "I will accept the punishments that you deem fair Director Fury."

"Do you think you deserve this second chance." Director Fury asked him with a blank expression.

Loki didn't answer right away. Eventually he sighed. "If the very few friends I have made believe I do then perhaps I do." He said quietly. "I have done a lot of bad, and realize I have much to be sorry for. I don't deserve the kindness being shown to me."

"Hm." Director Fury watched him, and then turned his gaze on Hazel who still stood fiercely glaring at him, and blocking Loki as best she could. "You're lucky you've got at least one friend. We'll be in touch little lady." With that he was gone again out the door in a swish of leather.

Loki let out a long shaking breath as his cool composure shattered and sunk down the wall to the floor. "You may have just saved my life with your recklessness. You don't know what that man is capable of." He whispered to her.

She turned to give him a small smile. Her hands were shaking and she her knees wobbled dangerously. "Let's get you back to bed okay? I promise as long as you're here I will help you."

"I don't deserve this kindness."

"Oh stop. You are worth the trouble to me." She helped him back into bed. "We'll get you clothes tomorrow and you can stay here as long as you are.. er.. banished?"

"Banished yes." He affirmed. "I appreciate your kindness Hazel I do."

Hazel tucked her thick quilts in around his arms. "Just focus on feeling better"

She lay down beside him after switching the lights off and watched him sleep for a long time. The adrenaline was still pumping in her blood too fast for her to find sleep herself. She kept her fingertips on his hand. He was solid in front of her for the first time in two years and she couldn't sleep. Everything was alright for now.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Woah I'm still sorry. So so so sorry, I just want to finish and I'm just sorry. No one seems to care about me or this story. Hahaha..ha_

* * *

_Spring.._

By the time the snow began to thaw out, Loki was getting better at 'being human' as he called it. He had settled into a routine and had managed to establish a somewhat normal pattern of sleeping and eating. At night Hazel would catch him often times staring at the sky with wide tired eyes, but then she would coax him to bed. He chose to wear green most of the time. Dark colors suited him and she found that he had almost enjoyed choosing what fabrics and colors that would make up his wardrobe. Sweaters and jeans and soft t-shirts, but honestly anything suited him really.

Hazel took him into town when the spring became more apparent. The last of the snow melted off the newly emerging leaves and it was time to plant her garden for the coming season. Loki didn't like the car, but he went along anyway. He said it made him feel claustrophobic. She had only laughed and told him that he shouldn't worry, considering he spent most of his life traveling by magic.

They arrived at the small seed and garden shop and she hopped excitedly out of the car only to wait for him at the curb. He always had an air of grace surrounding his tall thin form and he slipped from the car like true royalty.

"Come on. Oh and be prepared. Everyone knows me in there so when I come in with a strange man.. Er that is to say expect everyone to ask you questions because they've never seen you before. Will you be okay?" She set a hand on his.

Loki gave her an exasperated eye roll as he joined her at the edge of the gravel parking lot. "I have entertained royal parties since I was a boy Hazel. You need not worry about me making small talk with the people in this shop. I'm a prince if you'll recall."

"No need to be a smart ass. I was just asking. Come on then."

The Prince eyed the flowers growing in the windows of the small store. Hazel had already made her way inside and he was left alone in the sunshine. He let out a long breath as a cool breeze ruffled his hair. "I know you're watching Heimdal. Is this what you had in mind when you ordered me sent here." He murmured under his breath. "I've become something domestic."

"Loki? That's exotic! Can we meet the young man Hazel?" An older voice came from inside the shop.

"Well he was with me just a second ago." Hazel's was next and he let out another sigh.

"Entertaining elderly shop keepers. I do hope you are proud of yourself." He ran a hand through his long hair and stepped through the shadowy doorway. "Hello. I just stopped to look at your.. Um.. Flowers." He finished lamely as he realized he didn't know what kind they were.

Hazel smiled warmly as the woman who was standing beside her gave him an open mouthed once over. She elbowed Hazel, who blushed before bustling to the fallen prince's side. He clenched his jaw to keep from quipping out something rude. He silver tongue practically ached to be used.

"Well aren't you.. Just.." She trailed off and cleared her throat. "Nice to meet you dear. You can call me Ethel if you want." She winked.

"Charmed." Loki managed a tight smile. It almost bordered on polite.

"Come help me pick out seeds for this year." Hazel slipped her hand into the inside of his elbow. "Thanks Ethel." She pulled him away from the still gawking woman with a laugh. "I think she liked you."

"If I'm not mistaken she is still staring." He muttered under his breath.

Hazel stole a glance back at the owner of the small garden shop and true enough, she was staring practically lustfully after the fallen Prince with a pen on her lips. She stared after his back side with intense focus. She stifled a laugh against her hand. "You're not mistaken at all."

Loki waved his finger through the air. He looked down in confusion when her elbow didn't slip from where it propped up her cheek and then cleared his throat in embarrassment. "I forgot.."

"Forgot.. Oh." Hazel let her fingers tighten around his sleeve. "You're humanity?"

"Is a curse." He finished, suddenly looked incredibly distraught. "I am going to go wait in the car."

"Are you okay?" She grabbed his hand before he could dart out the door.

"No I don't think so. I feel incredibly mortal suddenly. Please let me go. I need to.. I need to go out."

"Let me come with you-"

"No please." He slipped his hand from hers. "Please. I will meet you back at your cabin." With a somewhat polite nod to Ethel, he rushed from the tiny seed shop and out into the street.

"He alright?" Ethel asked as Hazel hesitated but didn't follow after him.

"I don't know. I really need to get after him. I honestly don't even know if he knows his way home.." She dropped a pile of hastily grabbed seed packets on the counter and looked back out the door worriedly. "Just these thanks."

"Well gosh he is handsome. I think you lucked out with that one. Not like you're gonna find someone here in town, no offense." She scanned the packages one by one with a dreamy look on her face. "But he's exotic."

"Er.. Thanks I think." She tossed some money onto the counter. "Thanks again." She rushed out the door in the direction Loki had fled. She fumbled with her keys before rushing out the door. The old truck's door squeaked when she opened it and tossed the back of seeds into the upsettingly empty passenger's seat. She let out a long breath as her truck rumbled to life.

* * *

When she finally rolled into her gravel driveway, having exhausted every other place he could still be walking, Hazel was worried sick. The sun had started to drop down and Loki was alone. Which could or could not be dangerous depending on how he was feeling. She knew he had dangerous shadows threatening the corners of his heart. She only hoped that she could shine enough light on him to save him from those shadows before he had some kind of meltdown.

As Hazel jumped out of her car, she could hear his frustrated shouts from the trees at the edge of her property.

"Shit." She muttered as she slipped on the gravel and ran in the direction of her prince's voice. The sound of wood shattering, like the first time they had met, made her run faster. He had only come to her before when the creeping shadows had become too much and now he had fled. "No, No no.."

Loki shouted angrily at the bark of one of Hazel's proud redwood trees. He had already punched his hands raw before remembering he couldn't heal his burst and bruised skin. He was practically blinded with rage and had nothing to funnel it with. The phantom waves of fire and lightening danced over his pale skin as the space in his soul where his magic had once occupied ached. He wanted to prove himself important, powerful and distinctly not mortal. He couldn't stand it. "Is this what you wanted Father! You wanted me reduced to nothing? Is this your master plot!" Pain was burning its way up his arms from the cuts and bruises as blood blossomed leaked pale skin and he screamed up to the empty sky.

"Loki!" Hazel's voice made his skin prickle. He didn't want her to see this moment of weakness. He was a god, not a weak mortal. "What are you-"

"Get away from you me." He hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't want you here."

"No." She answered firmly.

"Don't you stand up to me like you are something more than human-"

"Don't act like you aren't just as human now!" She countered.

"I was a king! I was a god! Don't you dare compare the two of us." He grabbed her upper arms and shook her. Venom poured from his angry gaze, but his silver tongue failed him. "I am.. I was.." He stuttered suddenly.

Hazel took the moment to break free of his grasp. She thought she would be angry. She thought she would snap at him but instead she felt her gaze soften. "Oh Loki." She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. She had never held him before and naturally, she expected it to be strange or unfamiliar. The fallen prince was rigid and nervous but she was strangely calm and relaxed quickly against his rib cage. His heart beat slow and steady underneath his shirt.

He let out a shaking breath after a moment. "Why.. Why are you doing that.."

She waited another moment before she took a step back and searched his face. Her hands slipped into him and lifted his between them. His knuckles were practically ripped to shreds. "Why did you do this?" She asked quietly and squeezed his fingers.

Loki clenched his jaw but said nothing. He turned away from her and tried to take his hands back.

"Let's go home." She whispered.

"I can't go home. My home is an infinite distance from here in Asgard."

Hazel let out a frustrated breath. "This can be you're home if you'd let me-"

"Let you what." His voice had lost its edge. He sounded more like a scared child than a former god. "Let me follow you around, like nothing more than a lost puppy. Let you take care of me? I'm not a pet to be kept Hazel."

"No but you don't have anywhere else to go. It could be your home too. I'm inviting you to stay with me for as long as you need and you're trying to make it seem like I'm insulting you Loki. I've never been anything but kind and understanding.. Nothing you've ever done could change my opinion of you. You will always be my sweet moon prince from the stars."

The fallen prince nodded almost minutely, but didn't speak for a long time. They stood in silence, surrounded by the sounds of the forest. She clenched his hands tightly in hers and waited.

"My hands hurt." He finally whispered, near silent and broken.

Hazel looked up at him with nothing but warmth in her gaze. "Come on. I'll clean you up and make you some tea."

They sat together in the bathroom for a long time. After a little bit of struggling and plenty of pained hisses as she disinfected his wounds, Hazel managed to clean up his bruised hands. She expressed her disappointment because his hands were beautiful and delicate, he shouldn't have treated them the way that he did. He had only scoffed and turned away, but despite everything a light smile played on his pale lips. Hazels face lit up then as she wrapped his hands tightly in gauze.

"What do you miss most?" She asked suddenly as her fingers brushed against his.

"Hm?"

"About your magic."

He let out a breath through his nose. "It's hard to place exactly. It's almost as if there is a gaping vacancy in my soul. It has always been inside me I suppose. In even the simplest things I can feel the lack of my magic." The fallen prince turned his mangled hands over to catch her fingers. "I must apologize for the way I behaved earlier. I fear I am having a much harder time adjusting then I initially thought. Time is beginning to ware on me."

Hazel stood from where she had been sitting on a stool before him and pulled him into another tight hug. He hesitated, but then wrapped his arms around her waist. Her fingers buried themselves into his thick hair. "I'm so sorry Loki. I wish there was more I could do for you."

"You've done plenty thank you." He answered quietly. "I may not always show it but I do appreciate every bit that you've done for me."

"You're welcome."

* * *

They say the thaw comes slowly. But, beads of dew soon took the place of stubborn morning frost that turned the grass white. Hazel decided it was time to plant so that by the summer she would have plenty to sell. She took Loki out in the early morning, he was normally awake anyway, to her fields hidden in the trees and closer to the road.

"What do you want to plant? We've got to set things up for summer and the fall too. So tomatoes and all kinds of squash, carrots, radishes, pumpkins.." She trailed off as she held out her basket of seed packets for the fallen prince to look at.

"Why don't you choose for me Hazel. I'm certain I don't know what I'm even looking at." He sighed deeply.

Hazel smiled. His hands had healed almost entirely. Only three small band-aides still remained on his delicate knuckles where one particularly deep and another long thin cut still persistently seeped blood. "You can do the carrots. Just follow the directions on the back of the package or they won't grow right. Do you think you can manage?"

He rolled his bright eyes and snatched the package. "I can manage much more than that."

She laughed as he stalked off towards the patch of dirt she had pointed him towards, with his eyes glued to the pack of carrot seeds. She shook her head before turning to another patch of dirt which would be filled with tomato plants and flowers.

After a couple of hours, she was done and she turned to see if her prince was faring as well. She burst out in a fit of laughter when she saw him covered in dirt with the corner of his tongue poking out of his mouth in concentration.

"Do you need help, your highness?"

"Don't patronize me." He muttered as she walked over the dirt to his side.

"I'm not just let me help you." She grinned up at her prince as their hands met when he handed her the seed packet.

By the time the sun was setting, and with both of them covered in mud and dust, and they sat side by side in the grass looking at the stars.

"You must tell me Hazel. What is that made you invite me into your home that first night?" Loki asked as he picked at the mud in his hair. "I was destroying your trees and yet you allowed me into your home and tried to mend me."

"That's a really deep question out of nowhere." She looked up at him. He was picking at the grass and keeping his gaze away from her. "You looked like you needed someone. I thought I could help you."

"You have done your best." He murmured.

"Oh have I. What made you decide to come inside?"

He stole a glance at her. "You are unflinchingly kind Hazel. That is why I decided to come inside. I appreciate everything you have done for me."

They sat in silence for a long time after that. Reluctantly, Loki laid back into the grass. Crickets sang all around them in the trees and the stars twinkled overhead. Her fingers found his in the soft grass and she curled into his side. He was tense at first but relaxed with a sigh.

"You're welcome." She whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Does anyone care that I am still writing. This is just so upsetting. I'm attempting romance. :\_

* * *

_Summer.._

Loki hated the heat. He absolutely despised it. The sweat beaded along his hairline like a crown and made his long black hair stick to his pale skin. It made him feel sticky and uncomfortable. However, he also refused to wear shorts. Hazel had convinced him once when she noticed tiny beads of sweat sparkling against his hairline that he usually was quick to wipe away. And then practically fainted from laughing. Despite all of his grace and charm, he had regrettably pale and skinny legs.

"Really they're cute though your highness." She managed through half stifled giggles.

He only scowled at her. "Where are the others? The ones I usually wear?"

"The washing machine." She answered with a sympathetic smile.

In a huff, the fallen prince sunk onto the couch and crossed his arms. "I'm not going anywhere until they're done."

After the one unfortunate time he had ventured the pair of cargo shorts Hazel had dug out of her closet, he wore dark jeans and a t-shirt every day. He went barefoot if they didn't have to go anywhere else but around the farm, and she off handedly commented that his feet looked as thought they should have been carved from marble. He let out a snort and rolled his bright eyes.

"No really! Just look at them!" She sat beside him on the swinging bench on her porch. "They are actually gorgeous."

"You are a strange human." He leaned his head back against the cushion and closed his eyes.

"Well then so are you."

He only laughed after that. He wiggled his toes as a breeze blew through the air and tugged at his long black hair.

Hazel watched him carefully. He was stunning, there was no denying that. He had sharp cheekbones but a kind face. She thought of all the ways there had been chances for him not to come back to her. She could have lost him to the void, or the Chitauri, or the Avengers. But here he was, sitting on her porch and drinking lemonade from a can. Completely human and here with her and her alone. "Tell me about Asgard."

He opened his eyes lazily and looked over at her. "You wish to know about Asgard?"

She crossed her legs under her and leaned as close to her prince as she could manage. "Tell me about your family Loki."

"Tell me about yours."

Hazel opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

"I'm waiting." Loki gave her a playful smile.

She let out a breath. "Well.. My mom and dad.. They are a long way from here. And they don't really talk to me anymore. I mean well when I moved out here to go to school-"

"What were you going to school for." He interrupted as his eyes slipped shut and he took a sip of his lemonade.

"Oh art history. I wanted to teach it-"

"An educator?" He interrupted her again and turned to her suddenly. "Tell me, why?"

"It's important to me and it's something that too many people care about." She pulled her knees up to her chest and focused on the threads at the bottoms of her pants. "I thought maybe I could make a difference and teach people what is important to me." She shrugged.

He watched her carefully with gleaming green eyes. "You have passion in your heart. I can admire that in ways you will never understand." As sudden as the strange look had appeared in his eyes it was gone and his look were closed again. "Finish telling me of your family."

Hazel was taken aback, but cleared her throat and shook her head. "Um.. Well.. I dropped out of school because I was kind of left on my own once I moved out here. They didn't help me pay for anything-" Loki opened his mouth to cut her off again but she set a hand over his pale lips. "Just let me finish will you?"

He narrowed his eyes, but smiled under her hand.

"Other than the parents who don't talk to me I have a brother who only occasionally doesn't talk to me." She dropped her hands back into her lap. "And when I bought this place it was in horrible shape. I rebuilt in on a tight budget and I barely scrape by every year with the money I make from selling fruits and stuff."

"You are a human of phenomenal perseverance." He conceded after a moment. "Estranged from your family, that is something to which I can relate."

"Tell me about Asgard."

He let out a long sigh. "It's.. Difficult to explain to someone who cannot fathom other worlds. The palace has many cavernous hallways all made of gold. It's a huge place, and where I spent nearly all of my childhood. I know its halls well." He paused and leaned his head back against the back of the bench. "And too be fair, I have a fairly kind family. My mother is a wonder. She is strong and cunning and the most beautiful woman. She taught me all of the magic I know. And my older brother Thor, though he can be quite a brash idiot, is kind as well. He loves Midgard and all the wonders that it supposedly possesses. You would like him. But my father, well, he is not the easiest man to get along with. He is.. " He trailed off and turned to her. "You would like my mother."

She smiled. "She wouldn't like me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well I'm just a weird little human."

He laughed. "I suppose if you say so."

Loki spent the day on the porch. He refused dinner when it was ready and wouldn't come to bed when Hazel came to get him. He stared at the sky with wide empty eyes.

"Loki?" She asked quietly when she was ready to go to bed. She had been on the couch reading in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. "Come to sleep. Please?"

He was quiet for a while. "There's a storm."

Hazel pulled the blanket she had wrapped around her shoulders. "Summer has those sometimes. Please come to bed?"

"My brother is coming to see you." He let out long breath and finally stood from the bench. "Come. I am sorry for being so distant today. I was feeling very strange after thinking of Asgard I suppose. Nostalgic even. Are you okay with my brother's presence? If not I could go to where he is." He set his hands on either side of her neck. "It would be nice to see him."

"Your brother." She muttered and searched his face. She took one of his hands tightly in hers. "I should change. Does my hair look.. Gosh I'm nervous."

"Thor loves everyone and cherishes Midgard like it is his own home world." Loki's voice was quiet. "I am the hard one to charm and look how far you've come. You have looked at me without any sort of intimidation since the moment we met." He smiled softly. "You have nothing to fear."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "You are a sweet heart. I'll be overwhelmed by your brother.."

He watched her carefully as another light flashed across the sky. "You're wonderful."

"What?"

"Loki!" A loud voice made him flinch and close his eyes. "My brother. It is a wonder to see you. You look beyond well!"

"That would be Thor are you ready?" He squeezed her hand lightly before turning to the approaching Asgardian. "Thor it is.. ah.. Good to see you too." He struggled to respond

The massive blonde grabbed Loki into a huge hug, which he managed to return stiffly. Hazel covered her mouth to stop from laughing but a giggle escaped. Thor looked uncontrollably happy. His great smile was snuggled against Loki's shoulder and he shook the dark haired prince back and forth.

"This is-"

"The girl?" Thor dropped Loki, who managed to land lightly on his feet. "My brother's light. You have one million thanks from our mother." He laughed warmly and set his hands on her cheeks before he grabbed her into a tight hug as well. "She would have come herself if more pressing matters had not arose. We are eternally grateful."

"Oh.. oh. No you don't have to thank me." She looked over Thor's head at her dark haired prince. "I.. I wanted to do it. How could I not."

Loki managed a smile. "Brother please don't smother her. She makes wonderful tea. Please tell me what is happening back at home."

It was strange, having royalty in her home. Loki had taken some adjusting to at first. His slim shadowy figure brought her comfort after the adjustment period. He walked with near silent foot-steps on her wooden floors and often snuck around corners and scared her. Something about Thor was different though. He was loud and big and the light cast over Loki's shadowy form. He was completely at ease, unlike Loki had been. He held onto his tea cup as though he could crush it at any second, which there was no doubt that he could in his massive hands. The princes spoke quietly about their mother and father. About things happening on Asgard and the other nine realms and Loki reluctantly seemed interested.

Hazel sat and listened intently. It was fascinating really to listen to them speak to each other about things she never even knew existed outside of Earth. However it couldn't last, nothing ever seemed to with her moonlight prince. An angry pounding on the door made her jump. The brothers turned to her. "No keep talking. I'll get it." She stood and quickly made her way to the door.

"You promised kid to keep me in the loop and now I get energy readings out the ass. This whole you hiding this royal pain in my ass is tonight. We're taking him in." Commander Fury pushed open the door and glared at her. "We're gonna peel his skin off his bones and you are going into a detention cell watching. Do you understand me?" He leaned in close to her. "Where is he."

"Fury. My friend!" Thor's kind voice boomed from the end of the hallway.

"Well that's a surprise." He turned and blinked at the giant Asgardian. "That explains the energy levels we picked up.. When did you get here?" He tapped on a screen on his watch.

He eyed Hazel as she slipped back to Loki's side and took one of his hands tightly in both of hers. "He said he was going to take you. I won't let him-"

"Hush now." He cut her off quietly before turning to the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Thor had begun talking to him with a hand on his shoulder. He told him how he had just arrived to check on his brother, who everyone was deeply worried about at home. He invited Director Fury to tea and complimented Hazel grandly.

"She makes wonderful tea. My brother came back here countless times for her tea alone, although one could argue her eyes are also quite wonderful. Come you must have some Son of Fury." Thor clapped the man on the back with a bright smile.

"No I don't think I will take you up on that offer. Thanks for the invite. From now on we will keep a much closer eye on you." He paused. "Apologies for the intrusion, and the latent threat." He was gone in a sweep of leather and the three of them returned to the living room.

Thor told stories for hours of his adventures after Director Fury left as suddenly as he had come. Loki had told him she had asked about their home and they sat for hours after that. Hazel sat with wide eyes and listened carefully to Thor's every word.

"We were in the mountains of Vanaheim weren't we brother, when Fandral managed to anger the chiefs by flirting with their princesses, do you remember." Thor chuckled.

"I remember quite vividly." Loki rubbed at his eyes.

"Do not forget it was your silver tongue that got us home to Asgard safe." Thor smiled fondly.

"How could you ever doubt yourself your highness?" Hazel turned to her dark prince as Thor began laughing. "You're a hero."

His eyes met hers with a sudden strange look on his face. The same that he had given her on the porch earlier. He searched her face before blinking it away and rolling his eyes. "I don't know what your definition of hero is but I am certainly not one."

"You were once and you will be again my brother." Thor smiled warmly.

Hazel kept her eyes on her prince's face and a light smile on her lips as Thor spoke.

"I think it's time for me to take my leave. My mother and father will be wanting the news." Thor stood and Hazel and Loki followed. "I thank you for the tea Hazel. And the fine company." He took up her hand and kissed her knuckles. "You take care of my brother until I can see you again."

"I will." She answered with a look at her brilliant shadow prince from the stars.

"May I speak with you before you go Thor." Loki managed after a hesitation and a stutter. He glanced back at Hazel.

"Go, go." She insisted quickly. Thor gave him a surprised look and then nodded. Hazel followed them after a moment to the back door and listened carefully through the wood and glass. The muffled voices of the long separated brothers made her smile until she realized what they were talking about.

"-What of father." Loki's soft voice came to her first.

"He hardly speaks of you. Which is to be expected, but mother is worried. I can bring her good news to ease her nerves." Thor responded.

"Please give her my best will you."

"I might come to you sooner next. There is something brewing on the horizon brother."

Loki laughed through his nose. A dry laugh that held no humor. "You would have to be truly desperate to come to me for help."

"Until next time Loki."

There was silence after that. Hazel leaned against the wall, hugging herself tightly. She could practically see the prince on the porch, staring forlornly at the stars as he often did. His eyes distant and slightly glazed over. Instead though of a long silence, the door squeaked back open and he turned to her knowingly.

"You were listening." He commented before turning to walk towards the kitchen.

Hazel huffed indignantly. "Well of course I was."

"At least you're honest." He sat at the table and rubbed at his face tiredly.

"Are you.."

"Not particularly okay no. I feel incredibly human." He peeked up at her through his fingers and hair. "Thor thinks you are a wonder."

"Oh does he?" She asked.

Loki smiled despite himself. "For saving me from myself apparently. You are a wonder for performing the task no one else could. A task no one else wanted, he assures me because it was deemed impossible."

She smiled coyly at him and took a few steps forward. "I can assure you, your highness, I wouldn't let anyone else have the task. It was one that I wanted. The chance to prove to you that there was light in your heart is the greatest honor I could ever hope for."

His smile fell and he so did his gaze. "You're so sure of that. My heart is riddled with shadows."

"I can see the light peeking through." She knelt before him and took his hands from his face and rested her elbows on his knees. "You.. You're wonderful." She whispered.

Loki didn't respond. He studied her carefully with his bright eyes. Hazel let out a breath as her heart stuttered in her chest. Her gaze found his pale lips as she licked her own quickly. Before she could stop herself, her hand hastily found his cheek and she sat up on her knees in a rush to move towards his lips.

"No.. You don't want to-" He cut himself off and set a hand on her neck. His fingers clutched desperately at her skin. "I'm poisonous."

"I don't care." She tried to find his lips but he held her back.

"I can't stay."

"I don't care."

"Hazel don't.."

She could feel his breath on her skin and she stroked his cheek with her shaking finger-tips. Their noses bumped together as she tried to touch their lips together. "You're all I have ever wanted and now you're here and solid in front of me and human and I can't have you." His eyes looked like exploding galaxies when she looked up through her eyelashes.

"I will ruin you."

"You should let me decide for myself what I want." Her voice was a breathy whisper. She could feel his fingers shaking against her neck and she set her hand on top of it and squeezed. "You have never been anything but good to me. I'm not afraid of you."

His expression was guarded. He looked down. "I am tired. It has been a long day-"

"Look at me." She pleaded.

He stood and rushed out of the kitchen, leaving Hazel alone on the cold kitchen floor. The door to the office the fallen prince had been staying in creaked shut and she sighed. She was embarrassed. There would no doubt be an awkward conversation in the morning but the Prince had made his choice and she would honor it. She curled up on the cool floor and closed her eyes. What an embarrassing night.

After that they didn't speak about the attempted kiss again. Loki was cool and collected in contrast to her somewhat flustered and embarrassed air around him. He didn't mention it so neither did she. Once the growing season was in full swing the vegetable stand was always busy. The fallen prince even got confident enough to man the stand by himself.

He was generally tolerant of the people of the town. He was polite in a tight and awkward way that gave off the general sense that he didn't actually want to be polite but he knew it was what was right. People from town liked him too. Hazel smiled fondly as he accepted money from kind older ladies who called him 'dear' and 'sweetie' and he only smiled politely and took the compliments.

At the end of a long night, the prince would slip into the living room where Hazel was usually already sat on the couch reading. He spent time gazing at the summer sky which worried her at first but then realized he must be home sick, wishing his brother would bring him news of his mother. However he would always come inside and sit with her on the couch. He didn't sleep a lot and often times they would end up on the couch in the morning, Loki still awake and Hazel waking from an uncomfortable night on her floral patterned couch.

They never talked about the almost kiss, and the summer passed with warm nights and tight smiles.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Apologies ring from on high. There are only like 2 chapters left. This and a short epilogue. Some feedback would be cool. Unless you guys don't want to in which case.. No one is even reading sooooo.. _

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_The Autumn.._

When the winds blew in and the weather got cold again, Hazel's garden filled with children and pumpkins. Mostly Loki seemed confused by the idea of Halloween. Hazel didn't try to explain it. She was sitting on the kitchen counter with a cup of tea in between her hands when he came in from staring up at the stars.

"No word from your brother?" She asked quietly as she help out the cup she had prepared for him.

Loki made his way to where she was sitting and graciously accepted the warm cup. "None. I am not surprised." He leaned against the cabinets beside her. "We should talk."

"Hm?" She asked around her tea. "Did something happen?"

He stared down at his steaming liquid with his bright eyes. "Not recently"

"What is it?"

"You.. ah. This is incredibly.. You tried to kiss me. Do you remember that?" He didn't look up at her but managed to get the words out. He was normally almost perfectly articulate and it killed her to hear him stutter.

"Yeah I vaguely remember."

"We never talked about that. And I never apologized for my response." He was quiet. "You are wonderful as well. But, I am evil and poisonous and I will only leave you here alone." He paused and looked up at her. "I'm not human forever Hazel. I'll go back to Asgard and you will be here, entirely mortal and alone."

"You can come back and see me. Like you used to." Her voice was small.

There was a moment of silence. A light breeze was pushing against the side of her cabin and the old wood creaked with the burden. He took a step towards her and set one of his soft hands on her knee and the other on the side of her neck.

Hazel searched his face as he leaned towards her. "As long as you're here we could just pretend you won't have to go back."

"I suppose." He conceded after a moment. His bright eyes watched her carefully. After another silent minute passed, he leaned into her. "You are unflinching in the face of my rage."

"Your rage?" She asked quietly. His breath hit her lips as he stepped between her knees. "You've never told me about your rage." She set her hands on his jaw.

"I told you before. I was, I am a jealous beast Hazel." His eyes met hers. "That was why the Chitauri were able to prey on me. I wanted power, I always will want power. What if I can't control my envy? What if I destroy you?"

She smiled suddenly and pulled him forward. Their lips met and she continued to smile. Goosebumps erupted up and down her arms as he breathed lightly against her skin . He smelled like sunshine and tea and cheap shampoo that he had picked out himself at the minimart on the corner. His hands were still shaky and she captured the one that was still resting on her knee when they broke apart. She kissed each of his fingertips before looking up into his eyes.

"I'm not afraid of you or your rage, Prince Loki of Asgard." She set her forehead against his. "I only know what you have been to me here. And that is wonderful and gentle and kind."

He gave her a guarded smile. She traced the lines of his face with her fingertips. His bright eyes slipped shut and he let out a long breath. "You don't know what a relief it is to be able to do this. To have you this close to me."

He hummed non-commitally.

"Kiss me again."

Loki obliged. Their lips met again and his fingers threaded into her hair.

They made love that night for the first and last time that night. It was all desperate clutching of hands and gasping. She didn't think she could ever be close enough to him and yet during that night he filled all her senses and it was finally enough. She grabbed at his hair and ran her fingers down his back while he placed rough kisses down her neck and across her collar bone. They lay in a tangle of sheets, wrapped around one another after. Hazel kept her eyes on his ribcage, while the fallen prince stared up to the ceiling. He wore an unsure expression as the girls fingers danced across his pale chest.

"Where did you get this Loki?" She asked quietly, as her finger tips found another scar in between two of his ribs.

"Hm." He looked down to where her fingers were resting. "Just a bit of training. Nothing exciting. Thor made a poor move and I suffered for it."

She smiled against his skin. "What about this one?"

"A particularly nasty group of fire giants on Muspelheim." He chuckled slightly under his breath. He wound an arm around her shoulders. "One of the few times I couldn't talk myself out of something. They don't listen to reason. Thor had to come and smash the monsters but not before I had been burned."

"Fire giants?"

"There are nine realms, all connected by the arms of Yggdrasil." He recited. "The tree of life which keeps us alive. Without it we would not be able to travel around and maintain order in the universe." He glanced down at her. "I suppose I grew up listening to the stories. My mother used to tell them to me before bed every night. Thor was never interested unless it involved a battle, which it often did. Everything is interconnected and nothing can exist without the other realms. Though we on Asgard are seen as gods, we cannot exist without those living on the roots of the tree. We live and die just as you do."

"That was incredibly poetic." She whispered. "Show me."

In a rush, Hazel jumped from bed and through on sweatpants and the first shirt she could find. Though slightly reluctant, Loki followed. He brought her onto the porch with a pen and a pad of paper and drew up the stars for her. He did his home and the many lands he and Thor had been too. He pointed to the sky in the vague direction she assumed things were. They stayed on the porch all night that night wrapped in each–other's arms.

The rain came in a rush. Hazel's garden turned to a giant mud puddle and she and Loki spent too much time inside. They spent hours playing cards and watching movies Hazel deemed would be relevant to his humanity and he went along with it all with pure grace. He was almost confusingly alright with being human. As though he had quietly accepted the domestic life he had been presented with. It worried Hazel but she tried to make the best of his company.

It was during the rainy autumn that someone found them. Someone who knew what Loki had tried to do in New York, and apparently had known someone who had died. The first time he had come up to Loki had been over the summer. He had been eying the prince for almost an hour when Hazel decided to go up to him.

"Is something wrong sir?" She asked him. She didn't recognize him from town.

"Who is that man?" He asked in a rough voice. "Where did he come from?"

Hazel kept her gaze carefully on his twitching hands. "Um.. Why do you need to know?"

He turned to Hazel. "I know where you are." With that he was gone in a rush.

"Who was that?" Loki's voice hit her ear and she turned when his hand touched the small of her back.

"I don't know. He was asking where you came from."

The fallen prince clenched his jaw. "I should have known this would happen." He muttered and then disappeared into her house for the rest of the day.

It was on the rainy day in November that he found them again. She was laying on the couch with her head in his lap, quiet music played on her record player. "Tell me again about the tree." She held his hand in hers above her head. "Or about your mother."

"You've heard all those stories Hazel." He had leaned his head against the back of the couch. "I have a feeling you just want to listen to me speak."

"What's wrong with that your highness? Even you like hearing you speak."

A loud pounding on the door made her jump. Loki lifted his head lazily from the couch.

"Were you expecting someone?" She asked her prince, who only rolled his eyes in response. Hazel smiled and placed a hesitant kiss on his fingertips before making her way to the door. "Can I help you?" She opened the door enough to look at the man who was standing on the other side with two other men.

"Can you?" He grimaced. "You're boyfriend? Can you send him out here? We just want to have look at him."

"You.. What?"

"Who is it Hazel." Loki's voice was closer and vaguely concerned.

The door was shoved open as the first man forced his way inside Hazel's house. The wood hit her in the chest and she was pushed back into the wall. She fought to regain her breath as she looked up to find Loki in a defensive stance against the advancing men.

"New York." The man in the front snarled. "My brother died in that madness. Want to explain yourself? You look something like the guy those Avengers were fighting."

The fallen prince flinched as if the words stung his skin. "I suppose I do."

One of the men grabbed Hazel and dragged her forward by the arm. She was tossed to the man in the front of the group who grabbed her hair and pushed her to the ground.

"What are you doing here. I thought you were some kinda alien or something." He man stepped into Loki's face, dragging Hazel behind him. "You killed a lot of people Mr. Martian. I bet people would celebrate if I brought you in."

Loki's eyes fell to Hazel for a moment before turned back to the man. "You're brother, what was his name?"

"What?" The man snarled.

"I'm not overly fond of repeating myself."

"Jake. My brother's name was Jake."

Hazel grabbed at the man's hand tangled in her hair. She struggled to free herself, but there was nothing she could do but look up to Loki with pleading eyes. He didn't look back at her. Something had changed in his eyes and she was suddenly more concerned then she had been in months. "Loki please-"

"Shut your mouth." The man holding her jerked her.

Loki tilted up his chin defiantly at the man. He took an impatient breath through his nose. "Do you suppose Jake cried? As the Chitauri were ripping him apart. When he realized he would never see his family again. When he realized there was nothing he could do to stop himself from being killed." He sneered and Hazel's stomach turned.

The men's anger turned. Hazel was pushed on the floor and she gasped as the breath was knocked from her lungs. "Loki stop!"

He was already gone. The men attacked him, but centuries of battle training made him react to the attacks quickly and without hesitation. The first went down with a crack on the head to her hardwood floor as the prince dodged his fists easily. The second man, after seeing his friend knocked out on the floor threw a blind punch which hit Loki square in the jaw. He laughed and ducked a second punch. His quick fists hit the man in the stomach before he was grabbed by the man who had been holding Hazel.

"Stop please!" She tried again.

The men hit him until he was laughing and blood was leaking out of his nose and mouth. They hit his face and blood leaked down from his hairline onto his porcelain skin.

"Hit me again. Make me bleed human. Nothing you do can hurt me now." Loki laughed humorlessly. "I am more alone then you could ever know. I don't feel a thing." He sagged in the men's arms and they dropped him to the floor with a disgusted scoff.

"What if we beat the girl. Would that wipe that smirk off your face?"

"Do what you wish." Loki didn't look up from where he had landed on the floor. "She doesn't mean a damn thing to me."

"Loki you don't mean that." Hazel whispered breathlessly as she was hauled to her feet. "Do something, make them stop." She struggled frantically against their grips. Loki only started to laugh again. She looked up with wild eyes at the men holding her. They looked suddenly almost apologetic. "No please. You don't have to do this."

"Sorry kiddo. My brother woulda wanted this guy to pay." A fist hit her cheek, and Loki was laughing wildly and pain blossomed over her cheekbone and tears slipped down her face.

Suddenly someone grabbed the man who had been holding onto her and she was dropped to the floor. She looked up, hoping to see her moonlight prince standing above her. Instead the massive figure of his older brother glared angrily at the man who had hit Hazel. His friend was backing away from the angry blonde. And Loki still laughed manically on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Thor lifted her gently in his massive hands.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Heimdal told me if I didn't something bad was going to happen." He ran his fingers over her cheek. "That is going to bruise."

"Thor. What do you think you're doing." Loki groaned.

"No brother what are you doing. Look at what your actions have caused." Thor lifted him roughly by the arm. "Look what you've done. Hazel has been injured because of you."

He laughed again.

Hazel wiped at her eyes as she searched his face for some semblance of her moonlight prince. He seemed to have been beaten away with the fists of the men who had fled with Thor's arrival. "Are you hurt your highness." Her voice was a shaking whisper and his eyes focused a little. They shifted to the bruise on his cheek as though he was confused as to the source of it.

"If you don't stop this before father hears you'll be taken back to Asgard and then I cannot protect you. All that I said on your behalf will be lost do you understand." Thor shook his brother until his eyes came into bright sharp focus. "You will be lost to me. I can't bare that."

"What.. Thor." Loki's voice was soft. He touched at the drying blood on his face with sticky blood soaked fingertips. "You're bleeding." He stated with a soft breath as his eyes fell on Hazels split cheek.

"Yes she is. By your doing brother."

"My doing.. I did this. I hit you?"

"No of course not. Don't you remember?" Hazel reached out for his fingertips.

Loki pulled his hand back. "Barely. It's.. hazy. I was lost."

Her fingers found his. "Are you back?"  
"I must return to Asgard before father begins to think to ask Heimdal what is happening." He hooked his hand on the back of his brother's neck. "You be good Loki. My brother. I will come back soon. Hazel, it was lovely to see you even under these circumstances."

Thor disappeared after that and they were alone on the floor. Hazel felt tears leak down onto her cheeks again. She clutched desperately at his fingers. He seemed frozen and horrified.

"I did this, I don't even remember." He muttered.

"You were laughing and invited them to hit you until you were bleeding." She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "You didn't hit me but you didn't stop them when they did. You told me you didn't care what happened to me."

He nodded. "I tried. I tried to tell you that I'm poisonous but you didn't listen Hazel. I told you I would ruin you and look where we are."

She let out a long breath before moving to touch his blood soaked face. "You're hurt. We'll clean this blood up and you'll feel better. I know you will."

"My father will send for my return." Loki's voice had gotten quiet. "He will take me back. Thor's words will be discredited."

"No.. I won't let them take you."

"Look what my presence has done. It's brought you nothing but pain." He insisted defensively. "Look at your face? This is what I do. I'm a storm and I will only hurt you further if I stay here."

She let out a breath. "I promised you I would have you if you came back to me. I won't break my promise to you. Let's clean you up and we'll make tea and we won't think about it."

His hands found hers. "There is no happy ending to our story. We cannot pretend it didn't happen."

"Come on." She ignored his words and pulled him back towards the bathroom where he was once again sat on her toilet so she could wipe blood from his pale skin.

His face was littered with cuts and bruises when she finally wiped all of the blood that had dried on his skin. He looked more tired than she had ever seen him look. Deep dark circles weighed at the skin under his eyes. Loki hazarded a look up at her through his dark spidery eyelashes.

"I will repeat what I said before Hazel, because I fear that you chose to ignore it. Ours is not a story that will have a happy ending." He chose his words carefully.

"I heard you."

"What will you do when I am gone?"

She shrugged. "Carry on as if you were never here. Isn't that what you want?"

The fallen prince clenched his jaw. "There's not another way and you know that. If I return to Asgard, even if it is as a Prince, they won't allow me to return to Midgard.. Er, Earth. That is to say you." His fingers found hers. "Are you ready for that?"

"No. I won't ever be ready to live without you."

He slid off of the toilet and wrapped her in his long arms. They stayed on the floor for as long as they could manage. A reality hit Hazel that she might never feel his hands on her arms and face again. She felt tears leak down her cheeks before she knew she was crying. He only leaned his head back against the wall and tried to ignore her sadness. He placed a few small kisses on her forehead before sighing.

"I am sorry. This is entirely my fault. If I get taken away from here, which I am almost certain I will, it is because I said things I did not mean."

"I love you." She confessed suddenly.

"Your father has ordered your return _your highness_." A deep booming voice jeered from the door of the bathroom." A pair of guards dressed in shining golden armor stood in the hallway of Hazel's home.

"As expected-"

"No, please. You can't take him from me." Hazel sobbed and clutched desperately at her fallen prince as he was dragged to his feet with little resistance. "Please."

"It's not our place Midgardian, please stand down." The second guard pushed her away from Loki as a pair of handcuffs were put roughly onto his wrists.

"Loki.."

"I will send word if at all possible. I am sorry." His eyes glimmered before in a flash the guards were gone, leaving nothing but a charred space on the wood in their wake.

She curled into a ball and cried alone on the floow for the rest of the night.


End file.
